It doesn't matter if you are headed to the gym for the first time or perhaps the 113th time, here are a few gym etiquette tips you should remember to make the experience enjoyable for yourself and for those around you from Pittsburgh personal trainer and life and lifestyle coach, Jackie Omotalade, The First Lady of Fitness, Fashion, and Fun. Jackie Omotalade is a gym enthusiast and founder and owner of Fix Up My Body, LLC:



1) Respect People's Zone: Do not over socialize. People come to the gym to workout, not to hear a long drawn out story about why you hate your sister. Respect your workout as well as the workout of others.

2) Share. Don't horde all the weights or stay on the treadmill for hours when others are waiting. When you are finish with a a particular weight, put it back where you found it, so that others may use it. It is extremely annoying to have to search for around the gym for weights.

3) Clean up After Yourself: Just walking away from a machine, without wiping it down is just NASTY. Always bring a towel with you and wipe the machines down when you're finished. Most gyms offer wipes or sprays for this purpose, so use them

4) Leave your cell phone in you locker: Unless it's an emergency, save your cell phone chatter for after your workouts. You are at the gym to focus on fixing up your body!

5) Making Crazy Noises: The gym is not your bedroom. You are not having crazy passionate sex, nor are you giving birth to a child. You are working out, so keep the noises, grunts, and howls to a minimum. They are irritating and you sound silly!

6) Cover it up: The locker room is NOT a nudist colony! Respect that! No one wants to see your pubic hair or breasts, or whether you have perfect abs or a gut. Cover up in the locker room.

7) Toting around your gym bag: Do not carry your bag from machine to machine. You know those large hollowed-out rectangles called lockers? That's where you store your gym bag.

8) Unload your weight bar: After you finish using a bar, leave it completely empty. Don't assume that everyone can lift the same amount of weight you can. This rule doesn't just apply to heavy lifters. Clean up after yourself! Your momma does not work at the gym!

9) Give people space: Have you ever been in the gym lifting free weights and someone comes right next to you and starts lifting inched from you? Not only is it intrusive and annoying, it can be harmful. Out of common decency and for safety, plain and simple, don't get in the way.

10) Do not fool around. You do not want to get hurt and you do not want those around you to get hurt. Practice common sense. Do not goof around at the gym. You could seriously hurt someone or yourself!